Panthers Don't Play Like Playoff Team

Panthers Flat, Frustrated In Loss

March 28, 1997|By KAREN CROUSE Staff Writer

MIAMI - — Make no mistake about it: The X that marks the spot in front of the Panthers in today's Eastern Conference standings was put there by the Washington Capitals, whose loss to Chicago on Wednesday guaranteed the Panthers a place in the playoffs.

The fourth-year team certainly can't say it did anything Thursday to nail down its second consecutive postseason berth. The Panthers responded to the news that they had clinched a playoff spot with two weeks to spare with a lamentable 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators in front of a Miami Arena sellout crowd of 14,703 that included former Dolphins coach Don Shula, who was a guest of owner H. Wayne Huizenga.

Rhett Warrener ended the shutout bid of Senators goaltender Ron Tugnett with 2:12 left in the third period, putting away a backhand pass to the slot by Chris Wells. Dave Nemirovsky, who picked up the second assist on the play, made the final score respectable with a goal with under two seconds left.

Sandwiched between the Panthers' goals was a regrettable show of frustration by defenseman Gord Murphy, who flung the stick of Senators center Shaun Van Allen into the crowd with under two minutes to play after being hooked by the player. The stick hit 11-year-old Anne Gonzalez of Miami in the forehead and left a bump that required a precautionary trip to the first-aid station. Van Allen asked for his stick back but Murphy provided the fifth-grader with one of his own. It was the least he could do. "I apologize deeply for that," Murphy said. "I was pretty frustrated that [Van Allen) pretty much had his stick embedded in my abdomen. I turned and flung the stick. I had no idea it went over the glass."

The irony in the outcome is that the Senators, despite a plucky performance that included a short-handed goal and a power-play score, find themselves mere interlopers at the playoff party. They have no assurances they'll gain a last-minute invitation; with eight games remaining they are three points removed from the eighth and final postseason berth. "They came in and dictated the game," said Panthers goalie John Vanbiesbrouck, who showed his frustration by smashing his stick on his way into the dressing room. "I can't tell you how, why and where other than the fact they did that. I've very disappointed about that."

At least the Panthers (33-25-17) didn't lose any of their lead in the race for home-ice advantage in the playoffs. Thanks to the New York Rangers' 4-0 loss to New Jersey on Thursday, the fourth-place Panthers have a four-point cushion over the fifth-place Rangers.

"We haven't played in five days," MacLean said, "but I'm certainly not going to blame [their play) on that."

The blue-collar Panthers do seem allergic to rest. Give them too many off days between games and they break out in a rash of mistakes. The last time they had more than two days' rest between games, at the start of the month, they responded with a 3-0 loss to visiting Phoenix.

A bad blunder by defenseman Ed Jovanovski begat Tom Chorske's short-handed goal in the 16th minute of the first period. Catching up to the puck behind his net late in the Panthers' first power play, Jovanovski let the puck trickle off his stick. It dribbled to the right circle where Steve Washburn and Scott Mellanby overskated it. Chorske, whom the Senators claimed off waivers from New Jersey in October 1995, swept in and fired the puck between Vanbiesbrouck's pads at the 15:17 mark. The left winger beat Vanbiesbrouck through his five-hole midway through the third, seconds after another Panthers' power play had expired, to record the 11th two-goal game of his eight-year NHL career.